The five hundred and sixty-fifth album: #565 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Blood and Chocolate Today it feels like Elvis Costello's aggressive singer-songwriter rock isn't hitting for me. The vocals feel a bit off putting and the sounds of the tracks blend together more than on previous albums. Lyrically, it also doesn't satisfy as much, it's a bit simpler, while not really messing with the vocals - the sleazy sound isn't meshing with me.
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The two hundred and third classical recording: #669 Giacomo Puccini - Gianni Schicchi Operas always have a trickier task to judge purely as a recording. The Italian book here doesn't give me much of a story to go on, although a Wikipedia performance helps a lot to roughly keep track. The music gets harder to keep track of as a specific sound - while character leitmotifs appear, they can also be buried by the rest of the music, and setting the scene and the story means that parts of it can struggle to retain its identity. Here, the opera has a good footprint and while the score seems heavy, the voices really get a chance to shine with this. The humour doesn't always shine through in the music, this mostly coming from the lyrics instead. It's good, the piece works well, but in hindsight, it would have been better in context.
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2025-01-01 00:00:00
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The five hundred and sixty-fourth album: #564 Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 Cupid & Psyche 85 is a pretty light weight album, mostly formed of some upbeat pop tracks that mostly don't feel like they reach too deep. It fits in with the likes of Wham! that appeared around the same time, as well as some Beach Boys throwbacks. Even so, it feels like it misses some depth that other albums have given and while it's well crafted and fun to listen to, it's not the direction I want to see everything move to.
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The six hundred twenty-seventh song: How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths The darkness that The Smiths bring to their music is present here, a wailing guitar occasionally piercing through the dark bass line. It's evocative and mood setting, encapsulating your emotions completely. It's still a powerful piece, the full version's slow descent adding to that feeling. The six hundred twenty-eighth song: Rattlesnakes - Lloyd Cole & The Commotions Rattlesnakes is a throwback rock record, more evocative of the sixties than the eighties. It's a nice rock song like that, but it feels out of place compared to what surrounds it and misses that bit of punch that could really elevate it. The lyrics are intelligent, but not quite easy enough for me to follow along to. The six hundred twenty-ninth song: Im Nin’ Alu - Ofra Haza Based on a traditional poem, Im Nin' Alu opens with a sober sound. The pop music kicks in, reminiscent of other sounds from the region, but there's something quite hypnotic about the poppier traditional sound that isn't far off from a Bollywood arrangement. With the lyrics in Hebrew, the text isn't easily accessible to me, but it makes the sounds even more hypnotic, building on that feeling that lures you in. The six hundred thirtieth song: Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution And then there's the better known, more accessible purple rain, the weirdly evocative title invoking its own thoughts and images. It's strong in its repetition, with the lyrics and music merging well. It's long, and not the most intense, but it's powerful enough in what it does. The six hundred thirty-first song: State of Shock - The Jacksons featuring Mick Jagger As a collaboration of some music greats, this seems to be missing something for me. There's something missing in how the songs build and a connection that's missing - the back and forth doesn't feel as magical as you'd hope from this. I was hoping for something better. The six hundred thirty-second song: Private Dancer - Tina Turner I mentioned how good Tina Turner sounded on the album by the same name, and this song is still one of the highlights, a soulful ballad that feels like it has a an edge and the wisdom of age in it that is otherwise missing. It's still as good to listen to here. The six hundred thirty-third song: Freedom - Wham! Freedom is a poppy love song that's uncomplicated in its sound, not looking for a deeper meaning but just staying what it is. It's happy and fun and just a good song. The six hundred thirty-fourth song: I Want You Back - Hoodoo Gurus I don't think this is the strongest rock song - a garage throwback that does the pop rock genre quite well, but doesn't have a track here that I really managed to connect with.
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The five hundred and sixty-third album: #563 Dexys Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down Don't Stand Me Down focuses on a few long tracks more than anything, supporting a progression through the music with definite stages to the song. There's a fair bit of spoken word included to set the stage in several tracks, which sets it apart together with the special mix of instruments - a heavy emphasis on saxophone, which makes the album feel closer to jazz, and a fair bit of violin. There's a heavy blues tint that follows from this, repackaged from a new wave era that feels like it creates a unique sound - regardless of whether that really hits or not.
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The two hundred and second classical recording: #328 Robert Schumann - Symphony no. 4 It's always great when something simpler can come through from a more complex work - although there is a lot of complexity to this piece, with a lot of beautiful surroundings, the core melody shines through really brightly and it's a treat between the movements, a layering that just works exquisitely well. There's this timeless, enduring quality to this piece that I just really loved.
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The two hundred and third TV show: #63 Mister Ed For better or worse, by now I'm at the point where I know what to expect from certain shows. I remember watching Mister Ed as a kid, so I had a decent idea of where it went, but it is mostly a standard comedy from the sixties, with a lot of the jokes and tropes you expect. It does play them off well - the jokes hit a bit betterthan others. Mister Ed, the titular horse, does stand out - he's well trained and you can see how much affection the remainder of the cast treats him with. Considering how some of these must have been quite tricky to pull off, the show feels surprisingly natural. It might not be a show to seek out, but considering what it sets out to do, for its age it's still quite remarkable.
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The five hundred and sixty-second album: #562 Simply Red - Picturebook Through its tracks, Picturebook floats between funk and blues, the music gaining and losing energy depending on the mood of the song. It works well, the lyrics of the tracks being well served by it, and there's some real feeling and emotion in the songs that feels like it would have gotten lost in the production in a lot of other cases. Hucknall's voice is quite specific, but it's well suited to these tracks. It might not feel like as much of a powerhouse album, but tracks like Holding Back The Years hit as much as a lot of other singer-songwriters accomplish.
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The six hundred nineteenth song: The Killing Moon - Echo & The Bunnymen Aside from being a decent rock song, the lyrics of this song hit the most. They are evocative and expansive, with a lot of analogies that hit quite well. It just works so well giving you that darker experience, as contemplative as it can be. The six hundred twentieth song: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) - Dead or Alive And then there's the joy of You Spin Me Round. It's upbeat, fun and just as synthy as you'd expect at this point. It just sells it all so well, it's delightful. The six hundred twenty-first song: The Boys of Summer - Don Henley I think there are some sounds that I've come to associate with a previous generation, and The Boys of Summer is that. Not too hard rock, synthy, sound effects, this is so emblematically eighties that it's hard to hear much else in it. It's incredibly expressive, even as I'm not sure how much would have actually reached the audience. The six hundred twenty-second song: Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions Rock You Like a Hurricane is a strong metal anthem. It positions itself well, it makes its statement and bowls you over with its force. It's strong, wild, and all you need from it. The six hundred twenty-third song: Plateau - Meat Puppets Plateau is a shorter, simpler rock song. It feels like it hits its beats, still a sad track, but the contemplation works. The six hundred twenty-fourth song: Tenderness - General Public There's something sweet in the lyrics of this. It shows a softer side in a world where that still felt rare, a need for tenderness that may not have lasted. It's an incredibly sweet and loving new wave track that worked better than I thought for me. The six hundred twenty-fifth song: Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) - Scritti Politti There's a lot mixed into this track here. There's a feel of Michael Jackson in here, with some Beach Boys harmonies, a funky track that has poppy lyrics to go along with it. It jumps and stays difficult to pin down. It works for me, but I'm not entirely sure how. The six hundred twenty-sixth song: I Will Dare - The Replacements There's a simplicity to a lot of this song that works well. The pop rock sound is nice and accessible and does the trick, while giving me more to go with. It's simple, but it works.
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The five hundred and sixty-first album: #561 New Order - Low Life There's just nothing to suggest that out of the ashes of Joy Division we got New Order, going from dark gothic rock to a synth-heavy pop album. The bass still features prominently enough to stand out, but it's not all depressing either at this point. There are exceptions - the second side opener Elegia is a lot darker - but even that has a synthier backing that keeps the brighter tone of the album. Fundamentally, though, it sticks to the more upbeat sound even when there's that bit of darkness.
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The two hundred and first classical recording: #559 Claude Debussy - La Mer It's been a while since I've been in a position to listen to a classical piece. It's one that gives feeling of water, calmer at first, more animated in the second movement and a bit darker later. It plays with that gentler feeling though, with a stormy crescendo that doesn't last as long as most. It's lovingly constrained, with that right build up at the end that doesn't overdo it, but limits itself really nicely.
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The two hundred and second TV show: #322 Police Squad It's easy to understand why Police Squad didn't last - the humour feels so ahead of its time, it's dense even by today's standards, with the gags coming fast and hard. There are recurring gags - probably the best the 'freeze frame' at the end of each episodes, which has the actors stop mid-action regardless of what they're doing. There's a massive number of non sequiturs, some of which feel like they're a lot of effort for just a single joke. It's a delight to watch, but I also wondered if it was good this didn't last for ages - I can't see how you'd keep this pace going for this much longer. What's there, though, is its own perfection and absolutely worth a watch, one of the best comedies from the time.
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The two hundred and first TV show: #504 The Day Today It's been nice to get a short show in. I've been looking forward to The Day Today as a satirical news show, one that clearly stayed around for a short enough time to not wear out its welcome, even as Alan Partridge, in particular, stuck around. Some of the jokes are clearly referencing the time, but a lot of the satire managed to carry over really well. It's been a lot of fun to watch these shows even as we managed to race through it - out of enjoyment, mostly. It's been worth waiting for.
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The five hundred and sixtieth album: #560 The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy Avoiding use of the synthesizer and other excesses of their contemporaries, Psychocandy doesn't sound stripped down. It brings in the noise distortion that featured in the earliest rock albums, with songs that feel in the same vein, even if the lyrics aren't as innocent. Instead, it takes that punk edge and adds it in. The vocals feel a lot more classic though, a place where you'd expect some harmonies if they were a band to go there as well. Unfortunately it does wear out its welcome after a while, with the repeated distortion becoming obnoxious as often as it's welcome.
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The six hundred eleventh song: Two Tribes - Frankie Goes to Hollywood Theme aside, the high energy of this song combines with the chaos of its explosions makes for an exciting run with a straightforward enough message, but a sound that makes you sit up and pay attention The six hundred twelfth song: Runaway - Bon Jovi Runaway is a pretty strong rock track. It doesn't give the depth that I think I fancy at the moment, or any of the extra things that could have helped elevate it, but it hits the beats it needs to. The six hundred thirteenth song: Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen As I think I addressed in the album writeup, this song is a deceptively strong piece of songwriting, an anthem that condemns rather than celebrates and helps build a feeling of contempt for the jingoistic types that would otherwise celebrate it. It's really been worth a listen again. The six hundred fourteenth song: World Destruction - Time Zone I don't think I ever heard of this song, but it hits so well. The rap and rock fusion feels a bit ahead of its time, but the rebellious spirit from both hits fits the time period, a counter balance to power that matches the lyrics of Born in the U.S.A. It's powerful and works so well here. The six hundred fifteenth song: Immigres/Bitim Rew - Youssou N’Dour The African sound heard here is joyful. While it feels like the list puts these on here to have diversity, it means that we get the best, and this is an incredibly strong and enjoyable song. The six hundred sixteenth song: It’s My Life - Talk Talk Another synthy anthem, It's My Life is an oddly feel good track with what feels like an ode to individualism that again suits the eighties. It's a nice dance track, even if the lyrics make it feel like it needs a little bit more of an edge. The six hundred seventeenth song: Smooth Operator - Sade I wasn't expecting some British bossa nova today, but the smooth jazz track works really well. It's a really good sound that feels like it fits with a fairly standard but strong love song. The six hundred eighteenth song: I Feel for You - Chaka Khan The funky R&B sound of I Feel for You is enhanced by the rap vocals, to the point where they really feel like the star of the show. As a song though, this works well, and the extended chorus helps a lot having it sound that good throughout.
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The five hundred and fifty-ninth album: #558 Tom Waits - Rain Dogs Tom Waits' folk music feels somewhat singular. Avoiding the production common of its time, it feels more hand crafted and deliberate, all supporting his gruff vocals. He feels like a great storyteller and creates a picture with the music. Even so, the music isn't accidental or purely supporting, there's a lot that builds here and works well. It's a touching album and you just can't avoid the sound.
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The six hundred third song: It’s Like That - Run-DMC While rap has been coming up before, it feels like this is another step up - the political bent is still there, but there's a call and response that feels stronger and a harder sound in the music. It's an impressive build, partially one of production, but it feels like it's more real even as it breaks into the mainstream without compromising. The six hundred fourth song: Rock of Ages - Def Leppard Yeah, as a nineties kid I was wondering if I started the wrong song at first. The aggressive rock works well there, with its anthem quality in places. It's a big and bad rock song and I really like it. The six hundred fifth song: Gimme All Your Lovin’ - ZZ Top Gimme All You Lovin' feels like one of those classical hard rock songs - a good riff, lyrics that aren't too complicated. It gives a standard love song feel backed by a slightly more aggressive sound - even if it's far more upbeat than that might imply. It's simple and straightforward, but as a song that works. The six hundred sixth song: Every Breath You Take - The Police There's something sinister about this song - something that feels like it builds more in the modern world where there are so many more ways to do so. It's sweet and alluring and even that feels like it could be a commentary - even if initially the influence might not have totally been there. Even so, it's still as impressive now. The six hundred seventh song: 99 Luftballons - Nena This song's happy, optimistic sounding title - the release of 99 balloons - belies an underlying theme that you don't really get without hearing the German version. It's about a nuclear apocalypse, caused by the sight of these balloons, and it almost feels like the song is also creating the party before that happens. Considering the events of the 80s, when this was set, luckily it didn't go that way, but the ominous feeling really sticks there. The six hundred eighth song: Zungguzungguguzungguzeng - Yellowman The reggae track here has evolved a bit, but it feels like it still builds on the similar base. It is fine, decently rock inspired but not jumping to give me a lot more that I would enjoy. The six hundred ninth song: Blue Monday - New Order I wasn't expecting this yet - the build up from disco and synth pop to the dance music that dominated the clubs from the nineties wasn't something I thought I'd hear until later in the decade. This, however, feels like it could often fit in the club music that follows, the choral vocals set it apart too. I've enjoyed it a lot, as it really sets itself apart and gets you going. The six hundred tenth song: The Trooper - Iron Maiden We end with an aggressive metal tribute to soldiers and fighters, the song driving relentlessly forward. It's a hardcore metal track, perhaps a bit too much for me but it hits the notes it wants.
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The two hundredth TV show: #250 Children of the Stones Moving some other shows in and out gave us the chance for a random TV show, and I was quite lucky this one came out. Officially a childrens sci-fi show, a lot of it feels more complex than that (possibly teenager focused, I suppose) that works for the entire family. As an extended Christmas horror, this would have worked as well, and on the whole the show presents an interesting mystery with some clear paranormal elements, but keeping it quite human in some of its connections. It's good to see a father and son pairing where they actually get along and mostly believe each other. It feels more mature than the 'kids show' would imply as well, and there are a lot of moving elements that take more time to follow, with the mental submission side having its own challenges. The creepy soundtrack really helps with this too, creating an unsettling vibe at every stage. Sure, the show is seventies at times, but its contemporary setting keeps it from looking cheap and instead it keeps it compelling when you'd normally expect kids television from this era to be less compelling. It keeps the adults in mine, and it's good it doesn't talk down.
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The five hundred and fifty-eighth album: #557 Kate Bush - Hounds of Love With a partner who's a massive fan of Kate Bush, I've heard a lot already and have a lot of affinity for her work. The first side of the album pays that off - Running Up That Hill is a deserved classic (long before Stranger Things made it cool) and Cloudbusting is just so amazingly memorable. There's a lot of depth in those tracks that really resonates. The other side are their collection of tracks for a concept album, immediately starting with a more wistful sound that sets up more of a story than entirely having those feelings in the moment. Under Ice really builds on that, feeling like panic throughout. Waking the Witch, too, reaches that discomfort - although here from its discordant, deliberately fragmented nature. The Irish music it builds up to is as interesting as it invokes a link to nature in its lyrics that builds on a folksy feeling. It moves a lot between the emotions, but it manages to combine the different sounds and emotions with the story it's trying to tell in the arc the songs go through.
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The five hundred ninety-fifth song: A New England - Billy Bragg Brief and simple, A New England hits its relationship commentary, makes its point and gets out. It's good, and it does exactly what it wants to. The five hundred ninety-sixth song: Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun feels like a straight forward, basic punk song with meaning that even according to the writer aren't too meaningful. It hits its beats and sounds good doing it, but I'm not sure it felt that notable to me either. The five hundred ninety-seventh song: Let’s Dance - David Bowie Going back through Bowie's catalogue, after having hit the albums before, really highlights some of the biggest tracks. Let's Dance is instantly recognisable and its hook gets into you straight away. It's just a joy to listen to. The five hundred ninety-eighth song: This Charming Man - The Smiths This track feels so much more upbeat than the later album we covered yesterday, which partially makes you look at the undertones of it. Here, though, it's also nice, simple bluesy rock song. The five hundred ninety-ninth song: Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood There's a real polish to this song, a real contrast to the raucousness that sexual tracks were often dealt with in this era. It's a good, strong track, its memorable line and riff supported by noises that build to their own crescendo, not leaving that much to the imagination. It's still strong and it works with everything it tries to do. The six hundredth song: Song to the Siren - This Mortal Coil Simple, with a bit of extra production, the song's focus on its maudlin feeling vocals works well for its mood and set up. The six hundred first song: Everything Counts - Depeche Mode As a more subdued synth pop album, Everything Counts puts its message front and centre, a clear commentary on greed and capitalism and a track that builds on that feeling. It's not a simple track, but contains a more introspective feeling than what new wave usually brings. The six hundred second song: Dear Prudence - Siouxsie & the Banshees The ethereal sound of this track adds a different undertone to the song, elevating a love song in a way I struggle to find a place. It's psychedelic rock, out there a fair bit, with a real feeling of floating through the story.
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The five hundred and fifty-seventh album: #558 The Smiths - Meat Is Murder Morrissey's vocals on Meat Is Murder are slow and dark, in a way that belies the energy of the underlying music. It challenges you, the lyrics quite confronting of its day and even taking on more current issues. It's a listening album - you need to sit there and take it in to really get what it's all about, but it's more than just the vocals. The music itself is a good punk and rock mixture that betrays a lot more care about the sound.
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The five hundred eighty-seventh song: Thriller - Michael Jackson Thriller is one of Michael Jackson's tracks I know the best, but it's hard to separate where exactly that fame comes from. The music video is a production in its own right, memorable as its own short movie. Even so, the sound of the track is as good, memorable and engaging with Vincent Price's vocals just adding to that creepiness. The five hundred eighty-eighth song: Shock the Monkey - Peter Gabriel Shock the Monkey is tamer after the sound of Thriller, but the straight forward pop track is still good, a simple track that's quite nice with the mood it sets, still slightly off putting as it goes on. The five hundred eighty-ninth song: Save It for Later - The Beat As a ska influenced new wave song, Save It for Later is fairly straightforward as a listener, with a hook that's simple enough to understand and builds just enough to satisfy, but not so much that it doesn't remain, essentially, the same track throughout. It's overall mostly just a neat track that doesn't outstay its welcome but just continues to feel good. The five hundred ninetieth song: Great Southern Land - Icehouse Without knowing for sure, it feels like the music of Great Southern Land invokes that feeling of being lost, a large place you get lost in. The lyrics invoke an admiration for the country, a talk about Australia that works nicely to invoke a more unsettling mood about the country that feels like it suits the story they want to tell about the land. The five hundred ninety-first song: Party Fears II - The Associates The high, almost operatic vocals of Party Fears II creates the real unsettling background to this track's building hysteria. It starts as a nice simple pop sound, but several times builds with the lyrics to an anxious crescendo that feeds the scaredness of the lyrics. It makes it not entirely easy to listen to, but the mood it does evoke gets set up incredibly well. The five hundred ninety-second song: Situation - Yazoo We follow up with another synthy track, another that I had not heard of before. The track has that upbeat new wave sound, but becomes more threatening with its chorus, repeating 'move out' with a more menacing, darker voice. Quite what it's challenging, I'm not sure, but it's a worthwhile one to hear here. The five hundred ninety-third song: Rock The Casbah - The Clash The sound of Rock the Casbah is one you'd expect from the Clash, a slightly slurred vocal that belies the lyrics, which are smarter and a bit more political about that, addressing some semi-fictional bans on rock music that come to a head in the song. It's a good idea, and the shouted chorus really helps to enforce that defiant party atmosphere. The five hundred ninety-fourth song: Buffalo Gals - Malcom Mclaren Only as this track started did I realize that I had missed out on some hip hop appearing in the list at this point. I'm sure that won't be as common on later batches of songs, but here it still feels like the sound is being built up in here. The track has its rap sounds and a lot of scratching, the latter of which feels a lot less common these days, but it also has the musical interludes and synth sounds that feel like they disappear later. Add to that the tamer lyrics - referencing square dancing a lot - and I really feel like I'm mostly getting an insight into the rap of the contemporary era.
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